Why Go Solar

  • Slow down or even stop the rising cost paid for electricity used by your home
  • Help contribute to being energy independent by producing your own power which means you’re not purchasing power or resources used for power from foreign and/ or overseas sources.
  • You will be contributing to a “green technology“.
  • Solar is a renewable energy resource.
  • Solar is clean energy that is not emitting pollutants like CO2 or greenhouse gases (unlike burning coal or even natural gas)
  • Get credit or even a payment from your power company if you produce more power than you use
  • Help support one of the fastest growing sectors in the American workforce.
Owning your solar system whether you pay for it upfront or finance it has its advantages. All the big solar companies are pushing their solar leases or PPA’s and for good reason. They receive all the benefits of owning the system; tax credits, tax write offs, and rebates.

Benefits of owning your system include:

  • You get the solar tax credit of %30 of the cost of the system instead of the solar lease or PPA company. A $20,000 system would yield a tax credit of $6,000 for the tax year the system was installed. You receive credit for the excess power you produce (not the solar company)
  • You receive any rebates from the power company and/ or the manufacturers
  • Owning your system adds value to your home whereas the other scenarios do not
  • Owning your system is more beneficial when you sell your home. The appraiser can directly add the value of your system to the appraisal and the potential buyer can qualify for a higher monthly payment due to the reduction in electricity cost. Plus a solar system is a highly desirable commodity for a homebuyer right now. With a lease or PPA, the sale of a home can actually be more difficult. There are many instances recently where the sale of the home fell out of escrow because the buyer could not qualify for the solar lease or PPA. The homeowner either had to pay off the solar lease or PPA (many times with prepayment penalties incurred) or try to resell the home to another buyer that could qualify.
  • There are no payment escalators with ownership. Most solar PPA,s include a payment escalator clause that allows the solar company to raise the price per kilowatt charged to the homeowner by a percentage annually over the term of the PPA. This amount is typically 2.9%.